Tag Archives: market

Thai Thai, Kerrytown and Cake Nouveau: Weekend Adventures in Local Food

This is a tale of three adventures.  Capers, really.  Even shenanigans.  Foodie shenanigans.  No, that makes it sound more cheeky than it really was.  Capers.  Definitely a caper.  This is a tale of three gastronomical capers.

Caper 1
On Friday, group of friends and I traversed across the vast swaths of town to the far east, to a small place of our acquaintance, a mystical, ethereal place known only as Thai Thai. We were a world-weary band of travelers, three young ones and seven others who just act young.  We descended on the tiny, tiny island of taste and took over about half the place.  We were treated with kindness and brought several succulent dishes of varying heat.  Josh and I partook of the spring rolls, being ravenous as we were, and considering that we had traveled to such lands before, consider ourselves connoisseurs  of that delicacy.  Then Josh sated his rumbly tumbly with a spicy dish called “Moo Pad Prig Khee Noo,” made of pork and fresh chili peppers and garlic.  Continue reading

Homegrown Festival!

We had a lovely time wandering the second annual Homegrown Festival…and apparently, so did a lot of people, because it was packed! We didn’t sample much, mostly because of long lines and..well, many many people, but we did try out Project Grow’s tomato tasting booth, and shared a delicious oreo cheesecake from my favorite local cheesecake place, Old World Bakery, which is located in downtown Ypsilanti.  We spent most of our time wandering around, looking, reading and enjoying the fabulous weather.  Excellent festival indeed.  Click the link below for a few pics:

Homegrown Festival

Crêpes! And other goodies from Detroit's Eastern Market

Once again, we found ourselves heading to Detroit’s Eastern Market this morning, sort of on a last minute whim, and a bit later than we normally go.  It was a beautiful morning and just what I needed to start the weekend off right.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the market here in Ann Arbor, but I have a special place in my heart for Eastern Market.  I think it’s the energy of the whole place.  You know, you pull up, you find a place to park…somewhere….reasonably within a walking distance and head on it.  There’s huge bins of watermelons on the side and beautiful ceramic planters for sale.  And once you start getting towards the center, there’s the fish fry place (“You buy, we fry”) and the vendors setting up their barbecue grills.  During the day when that barbecue has gotten started, Eastern Market smells like heaven.  And then, of course, the karaoke.  This morning when we walked in, about 9am, we were greeted by one lone but enthusiastic man singing Van Morrison’s “Moondance” to an audience of about three. Classic and fantastic.

Continue reading

Everything you ever didn't know you wanted to know about vinegar

Thanks to the Ann Arbor People’s Co-op Facebook feed, I found this jazzy little article all about vinegar, by professional Chef Kelly Myers

Vinegar quality depends on two things: the vinegar’s source material (what the vinegar is made from) and the length of time, if any, the vinegar is allowed to age and develop flavors.

Vinegar can be made from any sugar, making for a broad spectrum of choices. Besides wine vinegar, there is cane vinegar, malt vinegar, cider vinegar, East Asian black vinegar, purple sweet potato vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and vinegars made from white and red rice.

Read all about the magical wonderland that is vinegar in her article on culinate.com

SnackTime!

I like to snack, and I like healthy but delicious snacks.  So the other day at work, I made up this beautiful little concoction:

This is a delicious little yogurt parfait made with Fage 0% Greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt, if you’ve never had it, is much thicker than the yogurt we normally pick up at the store, because it’s strained in order to remove the whey.  The Fage yogurt has the consistency of say, warm cream cheese.  It’s comes plain, but I would never eat it like that.  It’s traditionally the base for tzaziki sauce, which is that great cucumber-dill sauce you often get on gyros or other Greek dishes.  Here, it’s flavored with a couple tablespoons of my grandmother’s homemade strawberry jam and topped with the crumbles from my last homemade granola bars and the last few strawberries from my trip to the farmer’s market. The combination of the sweet strawberries, the chocolate and the coconutty crunch of the granola was excellent, if I do say so myself.

Try it out, and customize it…use raspberries, peaches, blueberries, apricots…after all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  :-)

A Morning at the Market

Eastern Market in Detroit, that is. Eastern Market is the largest historic market district in the nation, apparently.  I’ve been going there for several years now and it’s always fantastic.  It’s a great place to get plants, flowers, fresh produce, cheeses, Josh’s favorite brand of Mexican chorizo, spices, cheap meat, fresh made barbecue and to sit out, hang out, and eat at any of the great restaurants lining the streets.  We go about once a month and stock up and it’s always a good time.  The stall vendors are loud, colorful and friendly and much of the food is locally grown (and some even organic).  Continue reading